CRAFTS: SALT DOUGH ORNAMENTS

Cookie Mold Salt Dough Ornaments...Ready to decorate!

Last year my girlfriend Carol held a children's gingerbread decorating party. I was pretty excited about it because I have a nephew that I love to spend time with. The kids were 3-10 years old. I was in charge of making the gingerbread men and Carol made each child a gingerbread house to decorate. When I got there she had bags of icing, paints, candies and sprinkles for the kids to use as decorations. My nephew (3 years old at the time) and the other children had a wonderful time. They enjoyed the activity and patiently decorated their houses and gingerbread men. It turned out to be a great theme for a children's Christmas party. If you have this type of party, I would recommend enlisting a couple of parents and/or friends to help out and keep the mess to a minimum. The younger kids need some help working the icing bags so extra hands are needed.The party was such a hit that Carol is going to do it again. This year we will be doing the Gingerbread Men, Gingerbread Houses and adding Salt Dough Ornaments for the kids to decorate. I am in charge of the ornaments and wanted to try something a little different then rolling out the dough and using cookie cutters. So I got out my cookie molds and made these ornaments. I'm really happy with how they turned out and plan on making another batch. I like how they have a clear imprint of the design on them so the younger kids will have some idea of how to decorate them.

Cookie Mold Salt dough recipe...

This recipe made:(6) Large ornaments plus (6) Small Ornaments. Amounts will vary depending on size of molds used.

What you'll need:

2 Cups all purpose flour

1 Cup Salt (I recommend the non-iodized salt as it's Cheaper)

3/4 Cup of Water, Plus 3 TB

Cookie Mold Pans - non-stick any size

Pam for Baking (or equivalent)

Small Vitamin Bottle to use as roller

Preheat oven to 200 degrees

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add 3/4 Cups of Water. Kneed ingredients together thoroughly with your hands. If dough is dry and crumbly...add 1 TB at a time until dough sticks together nicely and is neither crumbly or sticky. Don't add too much water. Spray cookie molds with PAM for baking or equivalent. Make a small ball of dough and place it into one of the cookie molds. Use your vitamin bottle as a roller and smooth dough into the mold. Do this until all the dough is used up. Make sure edges are neat! You can wet your fingers a little to help smooth edges.Now, using a straw, make hole for hanger. Push straw in dough and spin, pull up and dough should come out forming a perfect hole. Clean dough from straw after every ornament.

Place baking sheets in oven for 40 minutes. Remove ornaments from molds carefully by flipping onto a flat cookie sheet. Place ornaments back in oven for 15 minutes. Check ornaments for hardness. If they are not hard place back in oven for 10 minutes and check again. When they are hard to the touch, I turn the oven off and leave them in the oven for several hours. This will cure your ornaments so they will not break while being handled by little hands. I like to air dry them for several days before the party also. Small imperfections on the ornaments are normal.Your ornaments are now ready for decorating!Decorate the ornaments with glitter, paints and anything you can think of! Use Ribbon or Twine as hangers.

I hope you enjoy these ornaments! Let me know how they turn out!

Nicole F. Cox is a loom knitting pattern designer, author, blogger and professional photographer. She is considered a loom knitting expert and is the author of Round Loom Knitting in 10 Easy Lessons. You can find her designs on www.thismomentisgood.com, as well as Etsy and Ravelry. She is also a dedicated blogger of free loom knitting patterns and tutorials.